Hometown Heroes
Alleyway Attacks "Okay, so I need a loaf of bread, a stick of butter, and a gallon of milk. loaf of bread, a stick of butter, and a gallon of milk. loaf of bread, a stick of butter, and a gallon of milk." A young ebony skinned boy walked down a city block, chanting the tune aloud as he made his way to the supermarket. He stuck his headphones in as he walked past the many houses and kids playing along the street. Rap music played in his ears as the streets bustled around him, leading him down the block to the bodega, as Seth entered the door, the bell shook in the door and the man behind the counter greeted him with a nod. "A loaf of bread, a stick of butter, and a gallon of milk." Seth chanted to himself as he went through the thin and cramped aisles of the corner store, picking up his items and bringing them to the cashier. "Here ya go. How much is it?" The man picked up each item, looking at the names, not a single label on them and without scanning them, he looked back up to Seth. "It's gon be $9." Seth's eyes gleamed, as he pulled out a crisp ten from his pocket and ran back into the aisles, snatching a bag of ships and a lollipop from the shelves and threw them on the counter. "That too." Seth said with a smile as the man rung up his items and gave him a receipt and his bag, sending him on his way as he couldn't help but smile back at Seth. Seth nodded to the man and ran out of the door with his bag in tow, sticking his lollipop in his mouth and bopping to his music, today seemed to be a great day. ---- On the other side of town, Dylan was walking around. Dylan was in his final year at Marvel High School, and decided he'd take up one of his final internships back in his home city. He had already met up with his family and had been staying with them for the last few days. Dylan enjoyed patrolling the city. He recognized old friends, as well as some new ones from his time at Marvel. Plus, this way Dylan could advertise the Hero Agency he was going to join once he graduated, as well as promote himself as a Hero that would make their mark on the world. His radio buzzed as he walked, and he brought it up to his ear. "Bzz bzz... Potential Quirk usage violation in Highbridge near one of the supermarkets. Response team needed." it crackled. Dylan raised it to his mouth. "Drago here," he began. "I'll check it out." He attached the radio back to his side, and he started to transform. His legs grew talons, becoming covered in red scales. A massive red spiked tail burst from him, and his arms became red with scales and claws. Then he kicked off, maneuvering through the city he had known his entire life. ---- Seth made his way down the street, lost in the beat of the music he listened too, mumbling the lyrics under his voice. As he looked up to his surroundings, he was no longer on his way home, he must've taken a wrong turn because he was now in a separate part of town. "That's weird." Seth said to himself, though not a scent of worry on his body as he knew his hometown through and through. As he made his way back home, he walked past a dark alley, bright lights were seen flashing from inside, followed by the screams of what seemed to be a young woman. "What the hell?!" Seth remarked, he stared for a moment before holding his head down and walking past, then before he could make it more than a foot or two further, the voice cried out once again. "Help me!" Seth paused in his feet for a moment, he couldn't simply let what could be happening happen, so he turned on his feet and made his way into the alley. As he reached the end of the alleyway and the light grew closer, he peeked his head around the corner and was met by two large men and one small girl, one of the men with fire in his hands, the other man with scales and snake eyes. "C'mon baby, I know you want us. Stop playing so hard to get." The man remarked, inching closer and closer to the woman, his fire and friend keeping her at bay and stopping her from making any sudden movements. The men reached his hands to her legs, rubbing her up and down, inching closer to a place they surely shouldn't be. Seth gripped the wall in anger, he couldn't stand to see them attacking this woman, so he took action. Instantly a small translucent blue dome formed over the pair of men, encapsulating them. "What the hell! Is this you blondy?" The man yelled, standing up a bit, looking around as the dome only covered their lower half. Seth watched from the corner as they stood in his dome, took a deep breath and whispered "Rule: Eject." In an instant the two men were blasted up from where they stood, flying through the air before landing on the ground, though landing right in front of Seth. The pair looked up in unison, glaring at Seth as the girl ran down the alleyway in terror, thanking the gods for her own safety. "You little shit stain!" The snake scaled man remarked having landed on his partner. He leaped from the man's back and charged at Seth with great speed, faster than Seth could see. Out of pure reaction, the first dome dissipated, another forming over Seth as the man entered and just as happened before they were both shot out, Seth shot away from the pair and the man shot back into his partner who was just getting up. Seth had smashed into a trash can behind him do to him being shot away, his back aching in pain at the impact, leaving him a sitting duck as the pair got up, angrier than ever and making their way towards Seth. The sound of of scales against scales reverberated across the alleyway as Drago whipped his tail against the scale mans head, sending him crashing into the brick wall. An audible crack was heard. “Jimmy!” the other one called out, beginning to look around frantically. Drago kicked him to the side as he dropped from above, repositioning himself so he was in front of Seth. “Hello boys,” Drago began. “I thought I already took out the trash. Guess not.” The two men staggered up, the scale man hissing with his forked tongue and the other igniting himself in flames. “Boy, we’re about to fuck you up.” one of them spat. “Two on one? Get outta here, wannabe.” Drago smirked. His legs tensed for a moment and he blitzed forwards. He jammed one of the spikes on his tail into the scale mans shoulder before flicking him upwards and slamming him into the asphalt. More cracking bones as the asphalt caved in. Using the tail as support, Drago performed a double kick into the flaming mans body, sending him crashing against the brick wall. His head was the first to be slammed, and he quickly crumpled. Drago got back to his feet, reverting back to his human form. His jeans were torn from the transformation and so was his shirt. But it was fine, the kid was okay. The woman from earlier had run off. “Dispatch, I’ve got some creeps here.” he said into his radio. “Last mentioned allegations were right. Requesting pick-up team.” Drago, now back to Dylan, walked over to Seth. A black car pulled up down the alley as he did, and members from his agency began to collect the unconscious criminals. “Hey kid,” Dylan said. He offered a hand. “You good?” Seth grabbed onto his hand, his eyes still gleaming in awe at the display of the hero before him. He swiftly defeated two people without breaking a sweat and just like that he beckoned a wave of supporters behind him to pick them up, in as few words as possible, it was epic. "Yea, I'll be a'ight. My back hurts like shit though." Seth said in a normal tone, noticing how he was looking at the man and returning to his normal disposition, rubbing his back. "Tsss." As Seth stood up, his back began to sting once again. "Shit," Dylan said. "I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner, bud. Thats my fault." he scanned the kid. There weren't any major injuries, so he'd be fine. "Hey, how about this? I'll take you for some ice cream. I'm supposed to question to make sure you're not not in shock, but I feel like ice cream would make it less formal." Seth's eye's squinted at Dylan and looked him up and down. "Isn't it weird for a white man to take a little black kid he just met, out for ice cream?" Seth remarked. Dylan laughed. "Hey, I'm still a kid too. Last year of High School!" he exclaimed. "You're clearly not in shock. Ya want me to walk ya home, bud?" "Nah, Ice cream's okay. My mom has my location as is and she's probably taking her nap right now, so she'll never know how long I was out. Seth responded, making his way out of the alley, beckoning Dylan to follow. Dylan followed Seth, waving at the team of Heroes collecting the criminals. They all smiled at Dylan with familiarity and respect. Despite not being a proper Hero yet, Dylan was still recognized as someone who would rise through the ranks rapidly once he did. And he honestly hoped he did, so he would have more of an influence to help save people. He turned to face Seth. "So, how old are ya?" he asked. "And sorry if what I did in the alleyway to those guys spooked you." "I'm 10, but people always think I'm older because of how tall I am. And also, I've seen worse on my walk home from school." Seth said, making his way out of the alley and looking onto the street. . "So we walking, or can you drive?" Seth questioned. Dylan smiled. "Don't worry, I can drive. The cars on its way from the agency. It'll be here in a bit." he said, leaning against a wall. "So, what's your name anyways?" "It's Seth." Seth responded, checking the time on his phone before putting it back in his pocket. "So what's yours?" Seth questioned back. "Dylan." the student responded. "I've got my provisional Hero license, so what I did was all legal. Don't worry." "Damn, I feel like it would've been cooler if you were a vigilante." Seth remarked with a slight laugh, slowly warming up to the current situation. "Yeah, yeah." Dylan jested. "But, being a Hero would be sick. My plans to become one of the best. More influence, more I can help people."